Bitters Bottle Could Bring $30,000 at Glass Works’ Auction
The Old Sachem Bitters and Wigwam Tonic bottle is the star lot in a two-day sale April 25-26 packed with flasks, inks, target balls, fire grenades, and black glass.
EAST GREENVILLE, Pa. – Glass Works Auctions’ Premier Auction is packed with 263 lots of flasks, inks, target balls, fire grenades, black glass, and bitters bottles, including one expected to bring between $20,000-$30,000.
Auction #157 will be a two-part, timed closing affair, with Part 1 slated for Monday, April 25, and Part 2 on Tuesday, April 26. The online-only sale has items at price points that will appeal to all levels of collectors. Both days close at 10 p.m. EST.
Expected top lots include an Old Sachem Bitters and Wigwam Tonic bottle, estimated to change hands for $20,000-$30,000; a General Frank Cheatam’s Bitters bottle (Nashville, Tenn.) (est. $6,000-$8,000); a Traveller’s Bitters bottle, circa 1834-1870, with the motif of a walking man (est. $8,000-$12,000); and an eagle New London Anchor Glassworks bottle (est: $8,000-$12,000).
“The General Frank Cheatham’s bitters and the Traveller’s bitters (with the likeness of General Robert E. Lee) are important not only to collectors of bitters bottles but also to collectors of Civil War material,” said James Hagenbuch, the owner of Glass Works Auctions.
Hagenbuch pointed to another important bottle in the sale – a blown three-piece mold geometric pan in cobalt blue (est. $7,000-$9,000).
“The cobalt blue blown three-piece mold pan is of extreme importance to collectors of early American glass,” he said. “Numerous pieces in this form exist in clear glass, but only on rare occasion is one available in the cobalt blue color.”
Other noteworthy bottles include a handled Whiskey bottle (“A.M. Bininger & Co. / No. 19 Broad St. / New York”) which has a pre-sale estimate of $2,500-$3,500; a mallet form wine bottle (“O/T/*S/ 1735”) (est. $2,500-$3,500); a fire grenade (“Harden’s Improved – Grenade Fire – Extinguisher Pat – Oct. 7th, 1884”) expected to find a new owner for $2,500-$3,500; and a “La Lafayette” bottle with a bust of Lafayette (“T.S.”) and Masonic Arch (est. $8,000-$12,000).
Also offered will be an American pattern mold covered sugar bowl, emerald green, possibly Sandwich or Pittsburgh District, circa 1820-1840, (est. $8,000-$12,000); a target ball (“Bo’t of / Jas. Brown & Son / 136 Wood St. / Pittsg. Pa. – Manufacturers and Dealers of Firearms”) (est. $2,500-$4,500); a and a “Talamon / Catarrh / And / Lung Cure” (est. $6,000-$8,000).
All lots will be on display for preview in the Glass Works Auction Gallery through April 24, by appointment only. To make an appointment, call 215-679-5849 or email info@glswrk-auction.com. The gallery is located at 84 Main Street in Pennsburg, PA., north and west of Philadelphia.
Online bidding will be through www.glswrk-auction.com.
